Sam Montembeault stopped 24 of 25 shots in a 4-1 win for the Montreal Canadiens over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
Although his shutout streak to start the season ended at 105:30, the netminder has so far saved 72 of 73 shots to begin the 2024-25 campaign.
The win snapped a nine-game losing streak for the Canadiens against their divisional rival.
Cole Caufield is also off to a red-hot start. He scored twice and missed scoring his hat-trick in an empty net by about a foot. He has scored four of the team’s nine goals this season.
And let’s not forget Lane Hutson. The rookie defenceman once again had the Bell Centre crowd holding their collective breaths every time he touched the puck, which was often. Hutson didn’t get an assist on Emil Heineman’s first career goal, which he scored with a second remaining on a power play, but he probably should’ve. (Update: he did eventually get awarded an assist.) 1-0 Habs.
With less than five minutes to play in the opening frame, Caufield beat Linus Ullmark from a sharp angle to give Montreal a 2-0 lead headed into the second period. Caufield is the first Hab to score in the team’s first three games of the season since Tomas Plekanec in 2014-15.
Fast forward to the third period after a scoreless second. Hutson finally got his much-deserved helper, this time setting up Alex Newhook in the high slot. Habs up 3-0.
Less than two minutes later, Tim Stützle ended Montembeault’s shutout streak to put the Senators on the board, down 3-1.
It’s been a quiet season for the top line thus far, besides Caufield, but that ended at 7:43 when Juraj Slafkovsky sent captain Nick Suzuki on a breakaway. Ullmark made the initial save, but Caufield jammed home the rebound to reinstate Montreal’s three-goal advantage. Suzuki got his first point of the season, and for all his struggles in the early going, Slafkovsky got his second assist of the night.
The Habs escape week one of the season with a 2-1 record, and that’s without a goal from their captain or 20-year-old blue chipper. According to Hockey Stat Cards, the top line has awakened, followed by three of their young defencemen.
At the moment, the Liveblog commenters are primarily focused on Monty and Hutson. About Last Night might need to start a new segment devoted to the daily jaw-dropping Hutson moment. Here’s one from Saturday.
Or how about the time he fooled not only the Sens, but the Sportsnet camera operators?
Hutson has six points, all assists, in the first five games of his pro career.
Top marks also go to penalty killers Jake Evans, Joel Armia, and Josh Anderson (yes, really!) for keeping the Sens power play off the scoresheet. Here’s what the commenters had to say on Saturday night.
3. “That is what was missing in the first half of last season. Cole’s shot was weak and not as accurate. I am sure his shoulder injury was still bothering him.” — Michael Way
2. “Hutson shows his stuff out skating Tkachuk in last minutes of 2nd as they both chased it into Montreal territory. As it first developed a thought ok, yer challenging the Bear. Let’s see what you can do. Out skated him quickly and gracefully. He’s the real deal.” — John Organ
1. “A little reminder that CC broke all of Matthews’ scoring records in the US development league. It would be EPIC to see him surpass Matthews this year.” — Marc Taillefer